Recruiting to Geosciences through Campus Partnerships
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The Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences offers majors in three areas: Geology (traditional, environmental, or hydrogeology, for work as a surveyor or in mineral exploration), Meteorology (studies in global atmosphere, weather technology, and modeling for work as a meteorologist), and Earth Sciences (interdisciplinary mixture of geology, meteorology, and other natural sciences, with option of teacher-licensure).
History
The Department of Geology and Mining was founded in 1898. In 1902 its name changed to the Department of Geology. In 1965 its name changed to the Department of Earth Science. In 1977 its name changed to the Department of Earth Sciences. In 1989 its name changed to the Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences.
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1898-present
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- Department of Geology and Mining (1898-1902)
- Department of Geology (1902-1965)
- Department of Earth Science (1965-1977)
- Department of Earth Sciences (1977-1989)
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- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (parent college)
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Abstract
Increasing reliance of U.S. colleges and universities on student tuition makes recruitment a high priority for geoscience departments. In 2017, ~70% of geoscience graduates did not enter university declaring geology as a major, up by 10% since 2013 (Wilson, 2019). They discovered geology by taking an introductory geoscience course to fulfill general education or a previous major’s requirement (Stokes et al., 2015). Thus, inspiring students to pursue a geoscience career through general education courses is a critical recruitment tool. However, what happens when these courses are taught online because of a pandemic, budget cuts, or to accommodate students’ need for flexibility? It is not easy to be inspired through a computer screen.
This paper aims to describe two innovative pathways to recruit new undergraduate and graduate students at a large public research institution where, rather than focusing recruitment efforts on incoming students, a program recruits students who are already on campus and majoring in high-enrollment programs by offering them a path to earn a geology degree as a secondary major.
Comments
This article is published as Cervato, Cinzia. "Recruiting to Geosciences through Campus Partnerships." GSA Today 31 (2021): 36-37. doi:10.1130/GSATG503GW.1.